Speculation: Mirtle re: Our Goaltenders - Sparks as a potential back-up

[ottomaddox]

transcribed:

“Calvin Pickard has been offered around the league in trade talks, other teams have been saying that. So, you know they are looking to ease that log jam a little bit.
But, I fully expect that the Leafs are going be putting one of those relatively good options for backup on waivers, and I don’t think it makes any sense to put the AHL goalie of the year on waivers in the fall. So, you either have to either make Garret Sparks your backup or you trade him. I suspect he will be your backup.”

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[BM14]

Sparks will be the one to go.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Sparks will be the one to go.

Yup. I think so tooo

 

[MyBudJT]

I rank our backups:
1) Sparks
2) Pickard
3) McE

Sparks should be our backup.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I rank our backups:
1) Sparks
2) Pickard
3) McE

Sparks should be our backup.

Based on what?

 

[Advanced stats]

Hopefully Sparks is backup. At least assuming he has an average -->dominant training camp

I bet mcbackup would slip through waivers.
Don't think anyone would take a flyer on a 35 year old.

 

[MyBudJT]

Based on what?

Valued assets.

Sparks is younger and better than Pickard
McE is nearing retirement.

 

[zeke]

Based on what?

McElhinney will revert back to normal this year.

We would be idiotic to throw away a young goalie who has proven elite in the AHL for no reason.

 

[ottomaddox]

I don't know off hand, but do all AHL goalie of the year players go on to be good NHL goalies?

I have to agree with Mirtle. The optics aren't great.

 

[zeke]

I don't know off hand, but do all AHL goalie of the year players go on to be good NHL goalies?.

of course not.

hell, not all nhl goalies of the year go on to be good NHL goalies.

 

[BM14]

I don't know off hand, but do all AHL goalie of the year players go on to be good NHL goalies?

I have to agree with Mirtle. The optics aren't great.

.....You're arguing about the optics of the backup goalie position should we move the AHL tendy?

My how far we've come.

 

[Advanced stats]

I don't know off hand, but do all AHL goalie of the year players go on to be good NHL goalies?

I have to agree with Mirtle. The optics aren't great.

Well 8 of the last 10 AHL "goalie of the year" winners have gone on to be at least quality backups.

3 are reputable starters.

Obviously it's time to let the 35 year old go and take our chances with Sparks. He's easily earned it

 

[WTFMAN99]

Winnipeg and Calgary the most obvious destinations to me. Both would want to try to get Pickard for free most likely off waivers first but we'll see.

 

[ottomaddox]

.....You're arguing about the optics of the backup goalie position should we move the AHL tendy?

My how far we've come.

I'm not arguing with anyone.

 

[Battle Lin]

probably needs to be our backup, i mean if you played like that for one year, you gotta get the backup job

 

[Ciao]

Well 8 of the last 10 AHL "goalie of the year" winners have gone on to be at least quality backups.

3 are reputable starters.

Obviously it's time to let the 35 year old go and take our chances with Sparks. He's easily earned it

I agree.

I don't what else Sparks needs to do for a chance at the bigs -- or when. The Leafs are running out of runway on this takeoff.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

I don't know off hand, but do all AHL goalie of the year players go on to be good NHL goalies?

I have to agree with Mirtle. The optics aren't great.

Its hit and miss

Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award - Wikipedia

Would still rather go with Sparks at this point. Maybe keep McBackup on as the 3rd goalie for next year. I know having 3 goalies isn't ideal but McBackup's ability to play well coming in cold after long layoffs last year might make him a good candidate for a 3rd string spot.

 

[Mr Hockey]

transcribed:

“Calvin Pickard has been offered around the league in trade talks, other teams have been saying that. So, you know they are looking to ease that log jam a little bit.
But, I fully expect that the Leafs are going be putting one of those relatively good options for backup on waivers, and I don’t think it makes any sense to put the AHL goalie of the year on waivers in the fall. So, you either have to either make Garret Sparks your backup or you trade him. I suspect he will be your backup.”

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I find it hard to believe a NHL team would pick Sparks off waivers, imo ...

 

[The Best Leafs Ever]

of course not.

hell, not all nhl goalies of the year go on to be good NHL goalies.

Am I reading this right?

 

[Kiwi]

Unless Sparks ***** the bed he should be the backup and play about once a week so we don't burn out Andersen like last season

Put McBackup through waivers and try to make him our #3 AHL/NHL backup and try to move Pickard for anything we can get

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Worst case with going with Sparks is you lost McElhinney and Pickard for little to nothing, Sparks sucks, and Kaskisuo is not much better. The Leafs would need to find a decent backup for likely less than a year, and that's typically not very difficult to do. We got McElhinney on waivers after all. Plus if the Leafs lose both Pickard and McElhinney on waivers, they will likely claim (or trade for) one guy to pair with Kaskisuo on the Marlies next year. I still think McAdam has something, but with uncertainty ahead of him, I doubt he gets much of a chance to prove himself.

 

[zeke]

Am I reading this right?

yep.

Jim Carey Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Winnipeg and Calgary the most obvious destinations to me. Both would want to try to get Pickard for free most likely off waivers first but we'll see.

Calgary sure. They have Rittich and Gillies, but they could use someone more proven. I think McElhinney would make sense. McElhinney can handle 20-25 games at a better level. That way between Smith and McElhinney, they have a solid tandem.

If they gave up Rittich and a 6th to replace the one we lost, it's a worthwhile investment. Also, it gives Gillies one more year in Stockton to develop and after that he should be ready to step in as the eventual backup. Rittich had a few good games, but he did not look like a bonafide backup. Therefore, he would probably slip through waivers and be able to play for the Marlies. He was bad in the AHL last year, but really good two years ago. Between him and Kaskisuo, we should have a pretty good tandem for the Marlies again next year. Plus, if Sparks does end up sucking, there are now two older goalies who have played well in the AHL and may be able to replace him internally. Going even deeper, we can choose not to qualify Rittich next year (and McAdam) and open up a spot for Scott (or Bouthillier, but he's almost certainly going for his OA year in the Q) as one of the goalies for the Marlies (presumably with Kaskisuo as the other). Seems like a win for everybody.

I find it harder to believe Winnipeg is a good fit. They signed Brossoit and they will eventually re-sign Comrie. I guess they feel they'll find a good backup between those two, even though Brossoit was arguably the worst goalie in the NHL who played any sort of meaningful time last year... besides Legace, but considering he was pretty much as bad as I said he was when Vegas originally signed him, that's hardly any consolation. I guess they have a lot of faith in Comrie. He was pretty good last year after all.

I personally think Washington makes more sense. They currently have Copley penciled in as their backup, but he's been extremely polarizing. Before last year, he was stellar in his stints with Hershey, but was sub .900 last year in his first prolonged season as a starter there and could not get them to the playoffs. Now they have Samsonov on their farm team, but I think their plan is to have him start the entire year in Hershey before moving up to Washington. Vanecek hasn't been that great. I guess if Copley sucks they'll just use Samsonov, but it would make more sense for them to acquire Pickard to compete with Copley and send the other one to be a better partner than Vanecek in the AHL. Especially if he goes for a reasonable price. The same could be said about the Rangers. Georgiev looked pretty good last year, but he's young and there is no guarantee he's going to be a capable backup. Plus their 3rd stringer is a mediocre backup AHLer at best. Pickard gives them legit insurance and competition.

Calgary, Washington and the Rangers seem like our only real options right now, and we'd have to compete with Lehtonen, Pavelec and Mason in Free Agency as well.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Calgary sure. They have Rittich and Gillies, but they could use someone more proven. I think McElhinney would make sense. McElhinney can handle 20-25 games at a better level. That way between Smith and McElhinney, they have a solid tandem.

If they gave up Rittich and a 6th to replace the one we lost, it's a worthwhile investment. Also, it gives Gillies one more year in Stockton to develop and after that he should be ready to step in as the eventual backup. Rittich had a few good games, but he did not look like a bonafide backup. Therefore, he would probably slip through waivers and be able to play for the Marlies. He was bad in the AHL last year, but really good two years ago. Between him and Kaskisuo, we should have a pretty good tandem for the Marlies again next year. Plus, if Sparks does end up sucking, there are now two older goalies who have played well in the AHL and may be able to replace him internally. Going even deeper, we can choose not to qualify Rittich next year (and McAdam) and open up a spot for Scott (or Bouthillier, but he's almost certainly going for his OA year in the Q) as one of the goalies for the Marlies (presumably with Kaskisuo as the other). Seems like a win for everybody.

I find it harder to believe Winnipeg is a good fit. They signed Brossoit and they will eventually re-sign Comrie. I guess they feel they'll find a good backup between those two, even though Brossoit was arguably the worst goalie in the NHL who played any sort of meaningful time last year... besides Legace, but considering he was pretty much as bad as I said he was when Vegas originally signed him, that's hardly any consolation. I guess they have a lot of faith in Comrie. He was pretty good last year after all.

I personally think Washington makes more sense. They currently have Copley penciled in as their backup, but he's been extremely polarizing. Before last year, he was stellar in his stints with Hershey, but was sub .900 last year in his first prolonged season as a starter there and could not get them to the playoffs. Now they have Samsonov on their farm team, but I think their plan is to have him start the entire year in Hershey before moving up to Washington. Vanecek hasn't been that great. I guess if Copley sucks they'll just use Samsonov, but it would make more sense for them to acquire Pickard to compete with Copley and send the other one to be a better partner than Vanecek in the AHL. Especially if he goes for a reasonable price. The same could be said about the Rangers. Georgiev looked pretty good last year, but he's young and there is no guarantee he's going to be a capable backup. Plus their 3rd stringer is a mediocre backup AHLer at best. Pickard gives them legit insurance and competition.

Calgary, Washington and the Rangers seem like our only real options right now, and we'd have to compete with Lehtonen, Pavelec and Mason in Free Agency as well.

Agree with all this except the Winnipeg part. Comrie wasn't good at the AHL level and Brossoit got rocked at the NHL level. Washington would be surprising/unsurprising. I don't know if Samsonov is willing to go to the AHL, if he is then grabbing a good back up like McBackUp or Pickard makes a lot of sense for sure as they'll be good upgrades on what they have.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Agree with all this except the Winnipeg part. Comrie wasn't good at the AHL level and Brossoit got rocked at the NHL level. Washington would be surprising/unsurprising. I don't know if Samsonov is willing to go to the AHL, if he is then grabbing a good back up like McBackUp or Pickard makes a lot of sense for sure as they'll be good upgrades on what they have.

Don't ask me. I would give Comrie another year in the AHL, but Brossoit sucks so he's really their best chance at a backup right now. I doubt they'd be looking at adding another goalie, especially one that is not free, after signing Brossoit. They could have signed another goalie for relatively cheap in free agency, including Lehtonen and Pavelec who are still out there for free (plus Mason who they technically could bring back too), but they opted for Brossoit. I think they end up looking for a goalie after realizing their "bold" move was really just a stupid one. By that time, however, our trading window has probably already passed unfortunately.

Comrie put up a respectable .916 for the Moose in the AHL. Not much worse than Pickard's .918 (although Pickard definitely played more like a .925 type goalie throughout the season; a few bad defensive games really tainted that number for him). I guess given the quality of Manitoba it should have been a better number, but there is no reason to believe he could be a serious competitor for a backup job next year.